Weight-Related Sport Motives and Girls’ Body Image, Weight Control Behaviors, and Self-Esteem

A. P. (Karin) de Bruin 0 1 Liesbeth Woertman 0 1 Frank C. Bakker 0 1 Raul R. D. Oudejans 0 1 0 L. Woertman University of Utrecht, Department of Clinical Psychology , Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands 1 A. P. (Karin) de Bruin ( Research has shown that exercise for weight control is associated with disordered eating indices in older adolescent or adult exercisers in fitness centers. This study examined whether these relationships could be replicated in a more general sample of 140 Dutch adolescent girls between 13 and 18 years old. Questions about sport participation, items from the Multidimensional Body Image Questionnaire and BULIT-R, the Contour Drawing Rating Scale and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were completed. The girls were categorized as sport-participants with or without weight-related motives or as non-sport-participants. Weight-related sport participation was significantly associated with body dissatisfaction, more weight control and lower self-esteem. In conclusion, it is important to consider motives for sport participation when studying relationships between sport and well being. - Although participation in sport and exercise may have various positive effects, such as weight loss, lower body dissatisfaction, fewer eating problems, and higher self-esteem (see Hausenblas and Fallon 2006; Hausenblas and SymonsDowns 2001; Loland 1998), there is also strong empirical evidence that in particular cases it may lead to more eating disorder symptomatology. For example, in aesthetic, weightclass, or endurance sports, particularly when performing at the elite level, more frequent dieting and other disordered eating related symptoms were found (De Bruin et al. 2007; Smolak et al. 2000; Sundgot-Borgen and Torstveit 2004). In addition, several studies in non-sport fitness and exercise activities have found that the presumed mental benefits of sport participation tend not to be experienced by individuals who are motivated to exercise for weight control or appearance-related reasons (Ingledew and Sullivan 2002; Strelan et al. 2003). So far, research has been limited to regular exercisers inside fitness centers only, and older adolescent or adult samples primarily coming from Australia (e.g., Furnham et al. 2002; Strelan et al. 2003), UK (e.g., Ingledew and Sullivan 2002), or US (e.g., Hubbard et al. 1998; McDonald and Thompson 1992). The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the established relationships between weight-related exercise motivation and the above mentioned disordered eating correlates could be replicated in and generalized to a more general sample of female adolescent sport participants outside the area of fitness centers. In a sample of Dutch adolescent girls between 13 and 18 years of age, sport participants who were motivated by weight-related reasons were compared with sport participants who were not motivated by weight-related issues and girls who did not participate in sport. Possible differences were examined on relevant variables such as dieting and weight control behaviors, body image and self-esteem. Previous research has shown that exercising to lose weight is a common practice, and that weight loss is one of the main reasons cited by women but not by men for engaging in physical activity (McDonald and Thompson 1992; Silberstein et al. 1988). These gender differences are already present in adolescence, as girls aged 1618 years exercised more for weight loss, while the boys reasons for exercising were largely related to physical fitness (Furnham et al. 2002). Exercising for health, fitness, or enjoyment, also referred to as functional exercising, has been associated with a decrease in overall eating disorder symptomatology and improved body satisfaction (DiBartolo and Shaffer 2002; Tiggemann and Williamson 2000). In contrast, so called body-related exercising for weight loss, body tone, or attractiveness has been shown to be related to disturbed eating, body dissatisfaction, and lower self-esteem (Cash et al. 1994; McDonald and Thompson 1992, Silberstein et al. 1988; Smith et al. 1998; Strelan et al. 2003; Tiggemann and Williamson 2000). Hubbard et al. (1998) concluded that female exercisers who exercise particularly for burning calories or losing weight indicated the greatest disturbance on these areas. A limitation of the studies above is that mainly adult or undergraduate student samples were studied. Tiggemann and Williamson (2000) who investigated exercisers between 16 and 60 years old only found significant negative relationships with body satisfaction and self-esteem for the group of younger women below 21 years, suggesting that girls and women between 16 and 21 years of age are an important target group in investigating body image-related issues. Furnham et al. (2002) focused explicitly on adolescents of 1618 years old and found that body-related exercising appeared to be a significant predictor for body dissatisfaction and disturbed eating (...truncated)